In an aside about Boris Johnson today, El Pais advised its readers that he had been sacked from the Tory front bench for un asunto de faldas. Or a skirt matter. I suspect this expression accords the transgression the degree of importance that most Spaniards feel it deserves.

A full-page ad in the same paper - for a cosmetic surgery company - stressed that Beauty is also something for men. Well, what it literally said is Beauty is also a man’s thing but I felt I couldn’t write that in a family blog .

While largely ignoring what goes on amongst the supporters, the Spanish media can sometimes come across as rather arrogant about the superiority of their football over that of, say, British teams. But who can blame them, some would say, after the performance last week of the English side? Anyway, one report today compared the ‘primitive’ football of Glasgow Celtic last night with the ‘modern’ football of Barcelona. It falls to me to say that the match was tied. And it’s a very long time since the Spanish national team did well in an international competition. Even if they are pretty to watch.